Folds still has old magic

Bringing the country into the city for folk duo India Electric Company's new project

THE thing that I’ve always loved about Ben Folds, from the time of the Ben Folds Five heyday, is his ability to tell a story within a song, coupled with his wit and the amazing sounds he seems to conjure from his piano.

Now he is solo, though still backed by an excellent band, that magic is still there.

He has retained his thrashy, growly guitar backing for some of his new tracks, co-written by Fever Pitch and High Fidelity author Nick Hornby, which feature on his new album Lonely Avenue.

Sure, the cheers were there for some of the older hits, such as Alice Childress, and One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces, but the songs from the album, which was released in September, also have their place in the Ben Folds canon.

In all, Ben was on stage for well over two hours, thrilling the audience of fans by taking requests, doing covers, and not, overall, making too many mistakes.